In a special presentation made Tuesday at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Orlando, Florida, the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) revealed that Clay Lacy is among the four air and space pioneers to be honored with enshrinement in 2010.
The names of the three other air and space pioneers to be inducted with Lacy at the July 17, 2010, enshrinement ceremony will not be publicly revealed until Dec. 17 at the annual Wright Brothers First Flight Anniversary Dinner held in Dayton, Ohio.
Lacy, a native of Wichita, Kansas, began flying at age 12 and had logged 1,500 flight hours by age 19 when he started working for United Airlines in the right seat of a DC-3. He retired as senior pilot after 40 years at United, having flown DC prop planes, 727, DC-8, D-10, and 747-400 aircraft. In 1964, while at United, he earned a Learjet rating and became a salesman and demo pilot. Upon leasing a Learjet, he became the first executive jet charter service west of the Mississippi, operating out of Van Nuys Airport, where he had previously served as an F-86 pilot for the USAF.
Clay Lacy Aviation became known as “Hollywood’s Private Airline,” carrying celebrities worldwide. The company later expanded, adding numerous aircraft types and a second base of operations in Seattle. Lacy also conducted more than 2,500 air-to-air photo flights for hundreds of commercials, television and feature films, including “Top Gun,” “The Right Stuff,” and others. He was instrumental in the development and use on his Learjet of the Astrovision camera system, designed by Bob Nettmann in the mid-1960s.
Lacy is a veteran air race pilot and holds numerous world-flying records. He is also noted for variety of philanthropic contributions that often include the promotion of aviation, such his 1988 around-the-globe flight in a 747 that raised $530,000 for children’s charities. Today, with over 50,000 hours of flight time, one of Lacy’s personal goals remains to fly every day.
Lacy will be formally enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame at the 49th Annual Enshrinement Dinner & Ceremony, to be held at the Dayton Convention Center on Saturday, July 17, 2010.
For more information: NationalAviation.org or 937-256-0944 x10.
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